


Observing the Obvious

by Dunuelos



Series: Harry Potter, Lone Traveler [87]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-06 08:47:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20288695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dunuelos/pseuds/Dunuelos
Summary: The Traveler makes a comment about something obvious, preventing a dire mistake.





	Observing the Obvious

**Author's Note:**

> Post STDS9 S04E21: For the Cause

Commander Worf was quite annoyed as he sat down to across from his fellow command staffer at Quark's Bar. Dax looked at him and said, "Still angry?"

Worf snorted. "Aren't you? I was betrayed. WE were betrayed. Eddington deceived all of us. He gave his oath and then assisted our enemies!" He said with some intensity. "He is _without_ honour!"

Dax was just as upset but didn't like seeing Worf so upset. "We'll get him. An alert has been sent out – someone will give us an idea where to find him."

Worf gave a Klingon sigh as he calmed himself. Suddenly, he was interrupted by another patron who was sitting at a nearby table. "Can I ask a question?"

Worf and Jadzia looked over and saw a human sitting at a table. He was dressed oddly, as though he was from an age gone by. His coat looked like real leather and his trousers looked like denim, a material not used in the last hundred years. "What is it that you wish to ask?"

The man nodded. "I am just curios. I noticed you looked angry. One should always be observant when one sees an angry Klingon so as to avoid doing something stupid enough to set them over the edge – at least if you don't want to feel a whole lot of pain." Worf looked at Dax, who had snorted in amusement to the comment and then he looked back to the man. "And because I was paying attention, I overheard that you were upset with someone. I was curious who was so much of an idiot to upset a Klingon that much."

Worf actually felt amusement at that though the only obvious result was that his anger was reduced. "I am sorry. But it is an internal Star Fleet matter."

The man looked a bit disappointed but shrugged. "I understand. Security."

Worf tensed – Eddington was a security officer. Dax interrupted before his anger could build again. "An alert _has_ been sent out to all civilian organizations anyway. We might as well explain."

Worf considered that for a long moment and then nodded to himself. He turned back to the man. "Our former Chief of Starfleet Security, Michael Eddington, betrayed his oath to Starfleet and assisted the Maquis resistance by theft." His voice became a rumble. "Such dishonour in someone one though could be trusted is … vexing."

The man winced. "Ouch. That's going to create a lot of work for you."

Worf nodded. Dax however was curious herself. "What do you mean?"

"Well, this man – Eddington you called him?" Worf nodded. "This man Eddington was in charge of your security right?" Worf nodded again. "And he maintained all your computer security, right?"

Worf replied. "Yes."

"Well then. This means he was an expert on your systems. If he was the Security Chief he likely had exclusive access to the system when no one was monitoring him. If he was making plans for his future, he could have set up a backdoor or a failsafe in your systems should he be cornered in the future. He's got to be aware at how much he's angered the powers that be as well as his former Starfleet comrades. You know have to find his ticking time bombs and disable them without knowing what he left behind. He will have made these traps all but unfindable. It will take a lot of work to go through all the possible command codes and find any hidden programs. You're going to be busy for a while."

Worf and Dax, as they were listening, started to feel both horror and righteous indignation as the man spoke. The man was absolutely right. They had a real security problem. Dax made a decision. She tapped her comm. badge. "Dax to Sisko." She started standing up, even as Worf moved as well.

"Sisko here."

"Captain? Worf and I need to speak to you immediately."

"Very well. My office. Ten minutes."

"Understood. Dax out." She tapped her badge and looked at Worf who nodded.

Worf turned to the man who had spoken. "Mr. …?"

"Potter. Harry Potter. Just a man traveling through."

"Mr. Potter. Thank you for your observations. They might save many lives."

The man nodded graciously. "You're welcome. Glad to help."

Worf nodded appreciatively and then rushed to follow Dax, who had already made it onto the promenade.

* * *

Captain Sisko sat behind his desk. He had just had to send his girlfriend to prison and he was feeling unsettled though resigned. He had great hope that she would return.

He heard the chime at his door. "Come." He watched as Dax and Worf came in and stood at attention. "What is it, old man?"

Dax looked at Worf and then to the Captain. "We needed to see you regarding a possible threat." With that Sisko's expression became like a laser focus. "We were discussing Eddington while sitting at Quarks when a nearby customer asked a question."

"And?" Sisko asked with some intensity.

Dax took a deep breath and then continued. "The customer noticed Worf was upset and was watching carefully so as to avoid upsetting him more - recognizing it's not a good idea to antagonize a Klingon that is already on edge." With that Sisko gave a small, brief smile. "When Worf calmed down, he inquired as to why Worf was upset. Considering that an alert has been made public, we explained. He made a comment which pointed out something we should have considered."

As Sisko listened to the details, he was immediately convinced that they were right: Eddington was far too crafty to have left the computers clean. He ordered a complete inspection until whatever security risks were eliminated.

Worf had been considering the matter as soon as it was mentioned. He had an idea. "We'll contact Starfleet Headquarters for a clean copy of the Defiant's programming as a basis for comparison. Any copy here is suspect."

Sisko nodded. "Good idea." He paused. "What was the name of the man who gave pointed it out to you?"

"He called himself Harry Potter. He was sitting at Quarks having a drink. I believe he was drinking tarkelian tea," Worf finished with amusement.

Sisko nodded. "I believe I will go an thank the man personally."

Worf nodded and gave the man's description before retreating to Ops.

Sisko left his office and made his way to Quarks. He looked around and didn't find the man described. He went up to Quark. Quark noticed him and asked, "What can I do for you, Captain?"

"Worf and Dax mentioned a man who was sitting near them when they were in earlier. A human who looked as if he were dressed for the twentieth century."

Quark nodded. "Yes. He's right over …." He looked around and couldn't see the man. "He must have left." He considered it for a moment. "That's strange. Normally I notice when a customer comes in or goes out." He called his waitress over. "Where is that human who ordered the tarkalean tea?"

The woman said, "He went back toward the holosuites right after Worf and Dax left. I remember because he left a very nice tip. Five slips of latinum."

Quark was astonished. That was far more than most people ever tipped. Now he was interested as there was a customer who had more money than sense. He went back to check the holosuite area but could find no trace of the man.

He returned to Sisko. "He's gone. I had one customer who saw him right as he was entering one of the suites. But then he had disappeared. The customer reported hearing birdsong in the background." Quark's tone was incredulous.

Sisko was both alarmed and curious. He looked up the records for a Harry Potter arriving and could find nothing. He couldn't even find a record of the man on the station monitors. There was no record of him in the Federation databases they had access to.

When he viewed Quark's video records, he saw only one image of the man. He had come in from the holosuite and had returned to it after speaking to his officers. He did notice that right before he left, the man had looked right into the security camera and nodded respectfully.

He turned and looked out his window into space. "Who is Harry Potter?" he asked himself. He then put it in the back of his mind. He briefly remembered the matter when Worf reported to him that a backdoor had been found in the Defiant's systems. A similar infiltration was found on the station's computers.

* * *

Eddington was quite enraged when, months later, he sent a command to the Defiant that should have disabled it. He screamed in rage when his ship was caught in a tractor beam when he was trying to escape.

**Author's Note:**

> I will have to say: It's hard to write alternates for Deep Space 9. There is a reason for almost everything. It's actually the most coherent of all the Star Trek series, e.g. something happening in season 2 has a reason explained in season 6. Changing anything extremely doesn't lead to the conclusion that the story needs. Unlike Voyager, which seemed to be ended by the method of "We need a way to get them home in two hours. How can we do that?" Deep Space 9 actually builds to a real end.
> 
> There aren't many episodes to create changes which won't affect things vastly. OR. There aren't many places to create small changes which will result in huge differences. For example: How could Harry, the Lone Traveler, create a small change which could save a larger number of the 800 million that died in the war?
> 
> I've tried to figure out methods which weren't the Traveler just hodge podging universes together. I could do that but I am trying to move the Traveler series back closer to its original feel. A reviewer pointed out that I had gotten widely away from that and, after re-reading the Professional's original, I had to agree.
> 
> That being said: I really like DS9 and really want to write a few episodes. I will have to get creative.


End file.
